Luderitz - 27th April to 1st May 2006 Luderitz has always been seen as off the main highway on your way to Windhoek with the result that we have never visited Luderitz before. When this trip was advertised by the club, we felt that it was an ideal opportunity to see this out - of - the - way corner of Namibia. Unfortunately we had a prior appointment on the Thursday the 27 April and had to leave quite late that afternoon and only arrived at the campsite of the Orange River Lodge at midnight. After a few hours sleep, we eventually met the rest of our traveling companions the next morning. The group consisted of: Theo and Lacea Marais and their two children, Graeme and Anna Marie Mc Callaghan and their son and George and Susan Warren and their daughter. After a short discussion about the day's itinerary it was decided that, because most of the group had not seen the Fish River Canyon, we would make a detour to the main view sight at Hobas. This added a further 100 km to the day's trip but everybody agreed that the spectacle was worth the detour. It also made an ideal lunch stop. The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. It was obvious however that southern Namibia had received a large amount of rain recently which caused dongas and washaways in the gravel roads. This called for alert driving so as not to be caught out by suspension-breakers. After rejoining the tar road again at Seeheim we proceeded west on the B3 to Aus. We eventually arrived at the campsite at Klein-Aus Vista approximately 2km beyond the main town. We found this to be a really nice campsite with clean sandy ground, plenty shade and great ablution facilities with hot water showers, that was appreciated by all. For the fees charged, I feel that this was a place that can be recommended in future. This place is also a photographer's paradise. The next morning we left at a leisurely pace to complete the last 140km to Luderitz. Approximately 20km beyond Aus, we took a short detour to the look-out point over the watering hole for the wild horses of the Southern Namib Desert. At the time of our visit they weren't at the watering hole but could be quite clearly seen on the plains, through a pair of binoculars. It was quite encouraging to see quite a lot of foals with their mothers. Many theories exist as to the origins of these horses, since they are not indigenous to Africa and obviously stem from domesticated horses that have adapted to the desert environment and roam freely in the wild. As we progressed down to the coast we passed trough ever-changing desert scenery and all along the route, large pools of water had collected along the road-side and shallow depressions, as testimony to the good rains of late. We eventually arrived in Luderitz just before noon and hurriedly set up camp at Shark Island before driving into town to replenish supplies before the shops closed. Fortunately though we gained an hour before the shops closed due to the daylight saving hours in Namibia. In the afternoon we took a leisurely drive up north of the town along the coast to Agate beach. We required permits and a guide to look for "sand roses" but could not get any over the weekend so we took a stroll along the beach and amongst the dunes. On our way back we saw some gemsbuck and springbuck that had been attracted to the green oasis surrounding the sewerage works, just north of Luderitz. When we arrived back in town we explored the town with its quaint German architecture. We visited the Felsenkirche(Old German church) with its beautiful stained glass windows and dominating view over the whole town and bay. We then went on a guided tour of the Goerke Haus, a beautiful German style residence built in 1909 by the the manager of three diamond companies at that time, for his wife. She only lived there for 2 years and then went back to Germany. It is now owned and run as a museum and guest-lodgings for Namdeb (previously consolidated diamond mines). That evening we made reservations at the famous Ritzies restaurant at the Luderitz waterfront. The restaurant lived up to its reputation and it was a fitting way to celebrate Graham's birthday. On Sunday morning we booked for the guided tour of Kolmanskop, the old ghost mining town, about 20 km inland from Luderitz. This town developed at the turn of the century when diamonds were discovered in the desert sand by a railway laborer, who had previously worked on the Kimberley diamond fields and recognized these shiny stones for what they were. This led to a diamond rush and boomtown, until richer fields were found further south at Orangeman. The town was abandoned and the last residents left in 1956. What was once an affluent town now lies abandoned to the relentless march of the Namib sand dunes. This was a fascinating tour and one that we would highly recommend to anybody visiting this area. It is also a photographer's paradise. As coincidence would have it, the very first patient that I consulted after the weekend was an 80year old lady who had actually lived in Kolmanskop in its heyday. That afternoon we took a drive around the peninsula to Dias point, where a replica of Dias' cross has been erected. The wind was blowing so strongly however that we took refuge in an old abandoned house at the light house to enjoy our lunch. After lunch we took a slow drive back along this wild coast visiting little nooks and crannies and interesting little bays. We also surprised some crayfish poachers, although I'm not sure who was the more surprised! This area is really remote and even required some low range driving in places. I was even more surprised to see that these tracks are included in Tracks4Africa's software That evening we had a communal braai in the cold and howling wind and retired early to be up bright and early for the long journey home the next day. On Monday morning we arose really early and after saying our farewells to new-found friends we took to the road for the 1200km slog home. We arrived back in Cape Town at 20h00 that evening, rather tired but very satisfied after a fantastic and informative weekend. George & Susan Warren